Visible Learning in Special Education

I have been in special education for 6 years. I have always been told to minimise spoken language so that our students can process what is being said. 

While this is important for providing instructions and especially important for students with communication difficulties I also believe it is important to provide a vocabulary rich environment. 

Many teachers in special education believe their students wont understand if we share their learning goals with them or it will confuse them further. 

This year i made it my personal goal to ensure that every lesson had a learning intention which i could share with my students. Almost 1 year later i have started to notice my students talking about their learning goals or what they have achieved, even students using only keywords to communicate are able to express what they are learning. It is so powerful watching my students have ownership and control over their own learning. This week Evan said, "oo what am i learning today? I like learning about vowels." 

In special education it is so important to assume the best in our students because every day my students surprise me. 

I have shared a template for sharing learning intentions in a previous post which you can see here.